Dean Guitars Performer Plus 5

5 string acoustic/electric. Medium scale 32" neck. Shadow P7 with 7 band EQ and volume control, undersaddle transducer pickup.

Good things: Unplugged, the bass sounds good. Nice action on the neck, except the highest string is un-unusable above the 15th fret, doesn't form notes that high. Enough volume to keep up with an acoustic guitar. STAYS IN TUNE when played or sitting -- I tune it up, put it on the stand, play it now and then, let it sit now and then, it can go weeks without even needing to be touched up for tuning. Very good.

Bad things: The pickup system in this guitar is an undersaddle transducer, and like all undersaddle transducers it SOUNDS LIKE CRAP when plugged into an amp. It doesn't sound anything like the natural tone of the bass. Uneven tone and volume output - the low 2 strings BOOM through an amplifier, the highest 3 strings are significantly lower in volume. Harsh trebly tone. If you're going to use this plugged in - you're going to need to come up with a different pickup arrangement then the stock one provided by Dean.

Overall, I rate it a "7" - "9" for unplugged, a "5" for plugged.

Action was set great. Flaws are no strap connector on the neck side (inexcusable) and the terrible electric pickup system. No playability above the 15th fret on the highest string.

I've owned the bass for about a year, played almost daily in all that time, nothing has broken or come loose. No finish wear. The ONE strap button has not come off, neither has the other side of the strap which I had to TIE to the top of the neck. Neck/truss rod has never needed adjusting - this bass was bought used, neck is perfectly straight to this day. Not usable for live electric gigging because of the terrible tone from the undersaddle transducer. Will need to be replaced.

No experience dealing with the company.

Overall rating: been playing bass 25 years. Own several amps, several other electric basses, Fender, Ric, etc. This is my first and only acoustic/electric bass.

Only thing I'd like to share is that this bass has great potential, and sounds nice unplugged, but a buyer should be aware they will need to come up with a different pickup system for it to be used through an amplifier.

acoustic/electric bass, 5 string, medium scale (32"), rosewood fretboard on a mahogany neck, mahogany body, black finish with abalone inlay around soundhole, shadow P7 active electronics with 5 band eq, volume, and anti-feedback switch...endpin jack.....minus a point for not having a front strap button

good sound...full and rich, as you would expect...eq is capable of a lot of variety...body is not big enough to really do the job unamplified....

this is a very attractive looking instrument...we bought it for my son, used, and it was attracting a lot of attention, but was not selling, due to a serious action problem....bad fret buzz on all strings at the 5th fret, and bridge saddles such that would make string height adjustment difficult if not impossible...after 10 minutes at home and a quick truss rod adjustment, the problem was fixed, and the bass played well....

seems solid enough

n/a

i was a little surprised that anyone would utilize a medium scale length on a 5 string, but it doesn't seem to hamper the playability of this bass...this may be due in part to the fact that the string guages seem pretty heavy...all in all, it's pretty decent...i'd give it an 8, but i'm keeping a point for the idiotic lack of a front strap button...that sort of thing went out a long time ago....

Current model. Acoustic/electric 5 string bass. 22 frets, fretted.
Shadow P7 volume/tone control module built-in. Volume slider control plus 5 band EQ. Active electronics, requires a 9 volt battery.
Natural finish, though I understand Dean is now releasing a new version of this guitar that has a quilted finish.

I bought this bass for two reasons 1) I camp out at music festivals a lot and there is almost never anyone playing bass - just a lot of acoustic guitar pickers and mandolin players (I'm not a guitarist, I'm a bass player) and I wanted to be able jam rather than strum chords on a guitar and 2) I have a weekly gig backing an acoustic singer/songwriter at a local club and playing my Fender Precision through a 4x10 wasn't really the aesthetic we're looking for.

Acoustic, unplugged: Tone sounds pretty darn good. Certainly more than enough volume to keep up with an unamplified acoustic guitar. I recently played this one along with two acoustic players that were pounding the strings pretty hard and the volume could keep up (though I did pull out a pick to give it a little more ring). Has a little bit of fret buzz but not enough to be distracting.

Electric: Tons of low end response - probably too much, but having the EQ helps, just keep the sub bass and bass tone controls down and keep the rest of the EQ flat. I have two amps, my main is an SWR Bass 350 and an old 1973-vintage Acoustic 370. The SWR just doesn't sound right with this bass - too much trebley funk tone. The Acoustic amp is much more straightforward and really makes this guitar sound good.

I bought this used, and the dealer I bought it from (over the Internet, sight unseen) set it up and put a fresh set of strings on it before it was shipped to me. There were no manufacturing flaws,
everything worked right and I haven't touched the action. Can't say if this was Dean or the dealer setting it up, though (probably the dealer, this particular place I got it from has an excellent customer service reputation).

No problem live. Less than a week after I got it I played a three hour gig without bringing my Precision as a backup instrument. The guitar really seems well built, it sounds good, doesn't suffer from intonation or tuning problems. As I type this, I've had the bass for two weeks. I tuned it up the day I got it, have jammed on it quite a bit and played a three hour gig...and I haven't touched the tuning knobs on the headstock at all since day 1.

I called Dean Guitars on the phone to ask questions about the guitar before I bought it. The guy on the phone wasn't real helpful and seemed a little annoyed with me. I was asking questions like "how long is the neck?" and "body thickness?" - he didn't have the answers at hand and didn't express any interest in putting me on hold to try to find them either. So....read into that whatever you want.

I've been playing bass for 22 years. At present I have just this bass and my '90 Fender Precision Plus. Overall, I think that this guitar was an excellent value for the $280 that I paid for it. I wouldn't hesistate to by another Dean guitar, and this one has got me already mulling over a Dean electric 5 string. I had never even played a Dean bass before getting this one; the local Dean dealer only carries their guitars, not basses (and I note that they are in the process of having a going-out-of-business sale, hey, not everyone is a guitar player, guys!).